Cover-support



(No Model.)

B. L. DOBSON". COVER" SUPPORT, BOX OPENER, HAMMER, AND STAMP ERASER. No. 588,407. Patented Aug. 17,1897.

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I' UNiTsDjS'rATEs PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT L. DOBSON, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

COVER-SUPPORT, BOX-OPENER,

HAM M ER, AN D STAM P-ERASER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 588,407, dated August '17, 1897.

Application filed November 30, 1896. Serial No. 613,907. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ROBERT L. DoBsN, a citizen of the United States, residingat Detroit, county of Wayne, State of Michigan, have invented a certain newand useful -Improvement in a Combined Box-Cover Support, Box- Opener, Hammer, and Stamp-Eraser; and I declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form' a part of this specification.

This invention relates to a device which is adapted for the several uses of a box-lid support, a box-opener, a hammer adapted to both drive and pull light nails, and an eraser for stamps, such as the government stamps that are employed on tobacco and cigar boxes.

The device consists of a rod at the one end of which is a split claw adapted to be used for the purpose of pulling nails or for the purpose of engaging the box-lid and supporting it.

In the drawings, Figure 1 shows the device in perspective. Fig. 2 shows it applied to' a box for the. purpose of supporting the lid thereof.

A indicates the main stem or brace of the device, at one end of which there is a twotined fork .that extends substantially in line with the main part A. One tine CL of the fork extends beyond the other tine b and terminates with a point which is bent inward (toward the line that the extended stem Awould take) at substantially right angles'to the tine a. The other tine I) also terminates with a' point which is bent inward toward the tine a. The'distance from the point a to the point I) should be somewhat greater than the thickness of the box with which the device is to be employed, and the transverse distance should be small, so that the two points a and b will approach to or nearly to the axial line of the rod A, either transverse distance being at most less than the thickness of the box with which the device isto be employed.

At the other end the bar A is curved and forked, so that the two tines of the fork are at substantially right angles to the axis of the .The two tines c and d at their junction form an acute angleadapted to engage with the head of a nail after the manner of the claws of a hammer. At their extremities they are wedge-shaped, with the edges of the wedges in the plane formed by the forks, so that the two may be easily inserted between the cover and side of a box and employed as a wedge to lift or force the lid open. At the bend there is provided a hammer-face or hammer-head e of weight sufficient to drive the small nails used in light boxes.

The use of the device as a box-opener and as a nail-driver is apparent from an inspectionof the device and from the description that has preceded. To use it as a lid-support, the device is placed so that the two points a and b are set into the inside and the outside of one of the ends of the box, as is-shown in Fig. 2. This position is easily taken by dropping the prongs a and 17 down over the edge until the point I) is somewhat below the top of the side, then turning the entire device on the point I) as a fulcrum until the desired inclination is had, and then pulling the upper end of the device outward, which will force both points I) and a into the wood. The lid of the box is now lifted and the claws c d placed in engagement with it by springing the upper end of the device outward, and thus forcing it in to engage the lid between the claws, as is shown in Fig. 2. When the device has been well engaged with the box, the entire box with its contents may now be lifted by using it as a handle.

What I claim is 1. A box-lid support, comprising a fork with tines of unequal length, each tine terminating with an inturned point adapted to engage the box, a second fork adapted to engage the cover, and a bar uniting the two forks, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a uniting -bar, a forked claw at one end thereof adaptedto engage the lid of a box, and also to engage a nail-head for the purpose of drawing the nail, and a forked claw on the opposite end pro vided with tines of unequal length having ininwardly-turned points, substantially as dewarclly-turned points adapted to engage the scribed. 1 end of a box, substantially as described. In testimony whereof I sign this specifica- 3. In combination With the barA, the fork tion in the presence of two witnesses. c, d, and the fork a, Z), the planes of said forks ROBERT L. DOBSON. being at substantially right angles, the tines lVitnesses: of the fork a, b being rigidly connected to the GERTRUDE DOBSON, bar A, of unequal length, and provided with VIRGINIA M. CLOUGH. 

